Be Sure
What Does It Mean to be SAVED?
By definition, the word "SAVED" itself has two senses in its biblical meaning:
1. The Physical sense; the preservation of physical or visible life; i.e. the body of man. To evade danger; destruction or calamity; to rescue from harm or evil.
2. The Spiritual sense; the "redemption of the soul of mankind"; the eternal security from wrath and judgment of God; i.e. eternal damnation in Hell; rescued from eternal death.
These TWO biblical principles establish the cold hard truth that there are TWO deaths according to scripture; a physical death, and a spiritual death. Thus, we conclude the only TWO ways to interpret the word SAVED in the Authorized Version of the Bible; and the Lord Jesus Christ himself warned us that we should fear one death above the other!
(i.e. Matt.10:28, "...fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." )
Unfortunately, all men have an appointment with death *(Heb.9:27, "...as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."), and there is no way to evade death; but the death that all men should fear is that second or spiritual death. Where the soul of a man goes to Hell.
The Bible tells us about that "second death": a lake of fire that will burn forever:
Rev.2:11, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Rev.20:6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power..."
Rev.20:14,15, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Rev.21:8, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Why do I need to be SAVED?
The word of God tells us that "all men have sinned" (Rom.3:10,12,23) and all men are "disobedient" (Rom.5:12,19; Rom.6:23; Tit.3:3-5) because of a sinful nature which they have inherited by birth. Most folks believe they need to DO something (like good works) or keep the law ("For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Jam.2:10) as best they can, that hopefully their good works will out-weigh their bad works: this is completely false and unfounded in light of the teaching of the word of God.
Rom. 3:10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
Rom.3:12, "...There is none that doeth good, no, not one."
Rom.6:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Galatians 3:22, "..the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1:10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
What must I do to be SAVED?
In the book of Acts chapter 16, we see the perfect example of what every man must do to be SAVED: the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Barnabas, "...Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The answer to the jailor's question was very simple: "...they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:30,31)
Salvation is simple: what you must do is acknowledge your SIN (your disobedience and offences toward God), repent of your sins (meaning you must turn away from them), and now place all your faith in Jesus Christ alone as your personal Lamb and Saviour! It is not a magic prayer; neither is it the way you pray or how it is said; but rather out of a believing heart in prayer to the Father, trusting the finished work* of Jesus Christ and his shed blood as the payment for your sins against a Holy God.
*The finished work of Jesus Christ: This means that He kept ALL God's laws and commandments because He was sinless and able to do so, and then offered Himself willingly as the payment for ALL sins, once for all.
Rom.3:24,25, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood..."
Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us..."
Ephesians 2:8,9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Colossians 1:14, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins."
1 Peter 1:18,19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
1 John 2:2, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
Rom.10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
